Deer support high tick intensities, perpetuating tick populations, but they do not support tick-borne pathogen transmission, so are dilution hosts. We test the hypothesis that absence of deer (loss of a dilution host) will result in either an increase or a reduction in tick density, and that the outcome is scale dependent. We use a complementary methodological approach starting with meta-analysis, followed up by a field experiment. Meta-analysis indicated that larger deer exclosures reduce questing (host-seeking) tick density, but as the exclosure becomes smaller (,2.5 ha) the questing tick density is increased (amplified). To determine the consequences for tick-borne pathogen transmission we carried out a field experiment, comparing the intensity of ticks that fed on hosts competent for tickborne pathogen transmission (rodents) in two small (,1 ha) deer exclosures and their replicated controls. Intensity of larval ticks on rodents was not significantly different between treatments, but nymph intensity, the tick stage responsible for tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) transmission, was higher in deer exclosures. TBE seropositive rodents were found in a deer exclosure but not in the controls. We propose that localized absence of deer (loss of a dilution host) increases tick feeding on rodents, leading to the potential for tick-borne disease hotspots

Perkins, S.; Cattadori, A.; Tagliapietra, V.; Rizzoli, A. (2006). Localized deer absence leads to loss of the dilution effect and tick amplification. ECOLOGY, 87 (8): 1981-1986. doi: 10.1890/0012-9658(2006)87[1981:LDALTT]2.0.CO;2 handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10449/20842

Localized deer absence leads to loss of the dilution effect and tick amplification

Tagliapietra, Valentina;Rizzoli, Annapaola
2006-01-01

Abstract

Deer support high tick intensities, perpetuating tick populations, but they do not support tick-borne pathogen transmission, so are dilution hosts. We test the hypothesis that absence of deer (loss of a dilution host) will result in either an increase or a reduction in tick density, and that the outcome is scale dependent. We use a complementary methodological approach starting with meta-analysis, followed up by a field experiment. Meta-analysis indicated that larger deer exclosures reduce questing (host-seeking) tick density, but as the exclosure becomes smaller (,2.5 ha) the questing tick density is increased (amplified). To determine the consequences for tick-borne pathogen transmission we carried out a field experiment, comparing the intensity of ticks that fed on hosts competent for tickborne pathogen transmission (rodents) in two small (,1 ha) deer exclosures and their replicated controls. Intensity of larval ticks on rodents was not significantly different between treatments, but nymph intensity, the tick stage responsible for tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) transmission, was higher in deer exclosures. TBE seropositive rodents were found in a deer exclosure but not in the controls. We propose that localized absence of deer (loss of a dilution host) increases tick feeding on rodents, leading to the potential for tick-borne disease hotspots
Deer exclosures
Dilution effect
Disease control
Hotspots
Rodents
TBE
Tick amplification
Tick-borne disease
Tick reduction
Ticks
2006
Perkins, S.; Cattadori, A.; Tagliapietra, V.; Rizzoli, A. (2006). Localized deer absence leads to loss of the dilution effect and tick amplification. ECOLOGY, 87 (8): 1981-1986. doi: 10.1890/0012-9658(2006)87[1981:LDALTT]2.0.CO;2 handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10449/20842
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10449/20842
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